60 Fun Facts About Basketball Rules

How many players from each team are allowed on the court at one time?

Substitutions are unlimited, but they can only be made while play is stopped.

How high above the floor is the rim of a regulation basket?

The height has never changed since James Naismith hung peach baskets from a gym balcony railing in 1891.

How many seconds does an NBA team have to attempt a shot after gaining possession?

The clock was introduced in 1954 to stop stalling; the number came from dividing a 48-minute game by the roughly 120 shots taken in a typical game.

Which team owner is credited with inventing the 24-second shot clock?

The Syracuse Nationals owner said he took 2,880 seconds and divided by 120 shots to get his number.

Under NBA and FIBA rules, to what does the shot clock reset after an offensive rebound?

FIBA made the change in 2014 and the NBA followed in 2018, so a putback chance no longer hands the offense a full new possession.

How long did the shot clock become in NCAA men's basketball in 2015-16?

College started with 45 seconds in 1985-86, cut it to 35 in 1993-94, and to 30 in 2015-16.

How long is each quarter in an NBA game?

FIBA quarters run 10 minutes, and college men play two 20-minute halves instead of quarters.

How long is an overtime period in basketball?

Overtime is the same length at every major level, and games keep adding periods until someone leads at the buzzer.

How many personals disqualify a player from an NBA game?

FIBA and college players foul out on their fifth, because their 40-minute games are shorter than the NBA's 48.

How many personals disqualify a player under FIBA and NCAA rules?

The lower limit reflects the 40-minute game those rulebooks use.

How far is the NBA three-point arc from the center of the basket at its farthest point?

The arc flattens to a minimum of 22 feet in the corners, which is why corner threes are prized.

Which short-lived competition, founded in 1961, was the first to institute the three-point shot?

The short-lived ABL beat the ABA by six years; the NBA did not adopt the line until a one-year trial in 1979-80.

In which season did the NBA adopt the three-point line?

It began as a one-year trial; the ABA had used the shot since its first season in 1967-68.

For three seasons starting in 1994-95, the NBA shortened its three-point line to what uniform distance?

The idea was to boost scoring; the league moved the arc back to its original distance in 1997-98.

How far is the FIBA three-point arc from the center of the basket?

That works out to 22 feet 1.75 inches; the WNBA adopted the same distance in 2013.

Under NBA and FIBA rules, how many steps may a player take without dribbling before it is traveling?

Moving or changing the pivot foot also counts as traveling, and the penalty is a turnover.

What is the penalty for goaltending a field-goal attempt?

The rule was adopted by the NCAA in 1944 specifically to stop 6-foot-10 George Mikan swatting shots off the rim.

Which dominant center prompted the NCAA to outlaw goaltending in 1944?

Under FIBA rules a defender may still legally touch a ball above the rim as long as it is on its upward flight.

How many technical fouls get a player or coach ejected from an NBA game?

A technical is any rules infraction penalized as a foul that involves no physical contact, most often unsportsmanlike conduct.

How many free throws does a technical foul award the opposing team in the NBA and FIBA?

Play then resumes from the point of interruption rather than with a throw-in.

How many free throws does a player get when fouled while missing a shot from beyond the arc?

If the shot goes in despite the foul, the basket counts and the shooter gets one bonus attempt instead: the classic and-one.

How far is the free-throw line from the backboard?

Both feet must stay completely behind the line until the ball leaves the shooter's hands.

Under FIBA rules, how many seconds does a free-throw shooter have to release the ball?

US rules are more relaxed, allowing ten seconds at the line.

What is the radius of the restricted-area arc under the basket, where no charge can be drawn?

The semicircle is measured from directly below the center of the basket.

What are the dimensions of an NBA court?

FIBA courts are slightly smaller at 28 by 15 meters, roughly 92 by 49 feet.

What is the diameter of a regulation basketball rim?

The backboard behind it measures 6 by 3.5 feet.

What is the circumference of the official men's basketball?

The women's ball is an inch smaller at 28.5 inches around.

Which company has supplied the NBA's official game ball since 2021, as it did from 1946 to 1983?

Spalding held the contract for the 38 years in between.

Under NBA and FIBA rules, how many seconds does a team have to advance the ball past half court?

Both used ten seconds until FIBA cut it to eight in 2000 and the NBA in 2001; college men still get ten.

By how many decades did basketball's 1933 backcourt time limit predate the shot clock?

The shot clock did not arrive until 1954.

In what year was the offensive three-second rule introduced?

It followed a rough 1935 Kentucky-NYU game at Madison Square Garden in which Kentucky star Leroy Edwards was held to six points.

The NBA's defensive three-second violation was added in 2001-02 alongside which other change?

Before that season, zone defenses were prohibited under the league's illegal-defense rules.

What is the penalty for a defensive three-second violation in the NBA?

It is charged as a team technical foul rather than a personal foul.

Under the Trent Tucker Rule, a catch-and-shoot is impossible with less than how much time left?

It was written after Tucker caught, turned and hit a game-winning three for the Knicks with a tenth of a second left in 1990.

The 1967-76 NCAA and high school ban on dunking was nicknamed after which player?

The future Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was dominating at UCLA when the rule arrived.

Which is a Flagrant 2 foul in the NBA?

A Flagrant 2 means immediate ejection; FIBA's equivalent is called a disqualifying foul.

In the NBA, which team foul in a quarter first puts the opponent in the bonus?

In the final two minutes of a period, a team that has not yet reached the penalty gets there after just two fouls.

In NCAA men's basketball, the seventh team foul of a half puts the opponent on the line for what?

The shooter earns a second attempt only by making the first; from the tenth foul it becomes a straight double bonus.

When two NBA opponents wrestle to a stalemate over possession, how is it settled?

Most other competitions, including the NCAA and FIBA, use the alternating-possession arrow after the opening tip.

In what season did NCAA men's basketball begin using the alternating-possession arrow?

FIBA adopted the arrow in 2003, and even starts overtime periods with it instead of a jump.

How many timeouts is an NBA team allowed in a regulation game?

Each lasts 75 seconds, and a team may use only two once the fourth quarter reaches three minutes remaining.

Under FIBA rules, who is allowed to call a timeout?

FIBA teams get two timeouts in the first half and three in the second, each one minute long.

How many seconds does a team have to inbound the ball on a throw-in?

The same five-second count applies in the NBA to a player dribbling with his back to the basket below the free-throw line extended.

Which season introduced the coach's challenge to the NBA?

Since 2023-24 a successful first challenge earns a second one.

Which of these calls can an NBA coach challenge?

Challenges are limited to fouls on the coach's own players, out-of-bounds calls, and goaltending or basket interference.

What happens if a player dribbles with both hands at the same time?

Restarting a dribble after holding the ball draws the same call, and the ball goes to the other team.

What is the penalty if an offensive player deliberately kicks the ball?

Striking the ball with the fist is treated the same way.

How long is halftime under NBA, FIBA and NCAA rules?

US high schools keep it to ten minutes.

What is the NBA title for the head official of a game?

The other two floor officials, called umpires elsewhere, are simply referees in NBA terminology.

Under James Naismith's original 1892 rules, what could a player NOT do with the ball?

There was no dribbling at all in the original game; the dribble was introduced in 1901.

What was used in place of a purpose-made basketball when the game was first played?

Five players a side did not become standard until 1900.

What did the janitor bring James Naismith when he asked for boxes to use as goals?

He hung them from the gallery railing about 10 feet up, and the height stuck.

In the numbered position system, which number is the center?

Centers are usually the tallest players on the floor; the point guard is the 1.

A shattered backboard is a technical foul in the NBA, but it counts toward only one of these totals. Which?

It also does not count toward the seven technicals that draw a suspension.

In the last two minutes of an NBA half, an off-ball foul by a team over the limit gives the offense what?

The rule exists to blunt Hack-a-Shaq, the tactic of fouling a poor free-throw shooter away from the play.

How many defensive players may line up along the lane for a free throw under FIBA rules?

NCAA rules allow four defenders; the shooting team gets two spots either way.

What is the tolerated NBA habit of tapping the opening tip before it reaches its peak called?

Players are technically supposed to wait until the ball reaches the top of its arc.

How long is an overtime period in most US high school basketball games?

Regulation high school quarters are usually eight minutes and halftime is ten, shorter than the NBA, FIBA and NCAA equivalents.

What is the circumference of the official women's basketball, the 'size 6' ball?

It weighs about 20 ounces, an inch smaller and two ounces lighter than the men's size 7 ball.

The dedicated 3x3 ball is as big as the women's ball, but how heavy is it?

The half-court game was first tested at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games and held its first senior world championships in 2012.